The party has fielded four candidates in the first phase in which polling will take place on 73 seats on March 11. It has named of seven contestants for the second phase on March 15.

The party led by Asaduddin Owaisi won four gram panchayat seats last year and hopes to win a decisive number of seats in forthcoming elections. (HT File Photo)

The state unit of All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Mulsimeen (AIMIM) released a list of 11 candidates for the first two phases of polls in Uttar Pradesh, nominations for which are scheduled to commence from January 17.

“We would be raising issues related to the deprived sections of the society hailing from backward classes, dalits and Muslims, who have been exploited as vote banks by all political parties, be it the BSP or the Samajwadi Party,” said party’s UP unit president Shaukat Ali.

The announcement came after AIMIM’s talks with Peace Party of Dr Ayyub to forge an alliance failed in UP.

The party has fielded four candidates in the first phase in which polling will take place on 73 seats on March 11. Mohd Idris from Agra (South), Ahtasham Ali from Firozabad City, Maulana Masiullah from Kairana and Parvez Ahmed from Koil in Aligarh district will be party’s candidates trying their luck for the first time at the hustings. The party has announced the names of seven contestants for the second phase on March 15 when elections would be held on 67 assembly seats.

The party has fielded two candidates in Saharanpur: Junaid Ayubi from Behat assembly seat and Talat Khan in Saharanpur. Haji Shahabuddin, Haji Aslam Ansari and Israr Hussain will contest from Moradabad City, Moradabad Dehat (rural) and Kundarki seat in Saharanpur district. Yaseen Ansari from Bareilly City, and Shamim Ahmed Turk in Amroha city will be official nominee of MIM. The party has chosen assembly constituencies which have a sizeable Muslim population and hence could lead to a division of minority votes.

The AIMIM had gone solo and made its foray in Bihar elections also but failed to open its account there. However, in UP, the party wonfour gram panchayat seats last year. MIM candidates won one gram panchayat each in Muzaffarnagar and Azamgarh and two panchayats in Balrampur district of UP. In Muzaffarnagar, Nitrapal Singh Bodh and in Azamgarh Kailash Kumar Gautham (both SCs) won.